Surprise! It’s Just Me, Your Friend

People traveling to tourist destinations often take photos with the sceneries or famous buildings as the backdrop. And from time to time, there is an unexpected addition in the picture. In this couple’s photo, a clown joined in for the snap. It’s a bit creepy and scary to some degree as clowns are more common in horror and thriller movies nowadays, like On Halloween, The Jack In The Box, Clownado, It, and Wrinkles The Clown to mention a few.

The clown character was developed out of the Zanni rustic fool characters of the early modern commedia dell’arte of ancient Roman and Greek theatre. First recorded in c. 1560, the English word “clown” in the generic meaning was rustic, peasant, or boor. However, the origin of the word is uncertain. The circus clown was developed in the 19th century, while the modern circus was derived from Philip Astley’s London riding school in 1798.